MLB Showdown Obsession

 Today is Paul O'Neill's birthday. Growing up, he was the best Yankee to watch. He played hard, never gave up a single at bat and outright refused to lose. Most players today need time off for minor injuries they don't wanna play with...O'Neill had a hamstring which came with a default setting of "nagging" and still authored an amazing career. He wasn't the team MVP during the dynasty years, but no way the Yankees win those 4 World Series titles from 1996-2000 without #21 in the lineup. However, today I don't want to feature a Yankee year for Paulie, but instead one of his most humorous moments in his career. July 5, 1989. Reds vs Phillies. Bottom of the 10th. O'Neill bobbles the ball in right field with the winning run racing to third base and slipping a little, but still thinking of scoring, but he holds up. Why? Frustrated at how he bobbled the ball, O'Neill kicks it and it happens to fly right to the cut off man! In his book "Me and M...

 We've covered what is considered the "best" trade the Mets have made before, but we all know the Metropolitans aren't famously known for making intelligent trades. So let's cover one that is arguably known as the worst trade in team history, and one of the worst all time in baseball... In December 1971, the Mets decided that this young wild pitcher named Ryan wasn't worth their time to develop. A control of 3 isn't bad for a young prospect, and even then you can see you're way more likely to walk against him than get a hit. Only 5 innings is a drawback, but hey, he was used out of the bullpen four times, so that might mess with the algorithm a bit. Ryan had a few not-quite-full-starter seasons behind him in Queens, but the Mets weren't committed to giving him a full season in the rotation, and they needed someone to play 3rd, so they made a deal out west with the California Angels. Ryan didn't leave alone, the Mets also traded: (Not pictured:...

Ted Williams, as Aaron Boone would put it, was a dude. The last .400 batter in baseball and unquestionably the greatest Red Sox hitter that ever was or will be. Williams was the foremost authority to hitting to the point where he literally wrote the book on it. "The Science of Hitting" is a must read for anyone who wants to learn how to properly dominate in the batters box. I believe it was actually required reading for anyone playing for Boston at some point in time. But what does Williams really know? Could he really understand the game in a way that could benefit more than himself? If only there was an example in baseball history where Williams successfully turned a bunch of sub par hitters into competent major leaguers... Meet the Washington Senators (version 2). Before they left for Texas, they enjoyed only 1 season above .500, and it wasn't a coincidence that it happened to be the first season where Williams took over as manager. The turnaround for the hitters betwe...

Unique names can be timeless. Without looking it up, what's Yogi Berra's real name? What about Babe Ruth? Good chance you don't know (unless you're a Yankee fan) And that's just nicknames. Other players were given crazy names at birth. The following are some uncommon names throughout baseballs long history. Billy McCool will steal yo girl. He'll also come out of the pen in the 8th inning and lock the game down. Average control, but almost half his chart won't put the ball in play, and you need a 20 just to get a hit. Boof. Just the kind of innings eater when the games a blowout. Dude has both an awesome first name AND last name. 100pt still seems high for a slow catcher who needs an 8 just to reach base. You can put it on the boaaaaaaard, yyyyyyyyyes! Favorite out of town play-by-play guy. Also love it when I have an excuse to make a classic team card. Decent off the bench card to play. King Kong Kingman has the pop to match his larger than lift moniker. I...